Chapter 73

Chapter 73: Go Ahead and Try

Thinking that, Qi Shu Xian lowered his gaze to Sheng Zhi Wan’s stubborn face. Instead of calming him, it only stirred a man’s urge to conquer.

Qi Shu Xian did not care about the dagger at his throat. Qi Shu Xian reached out and grabbed the belt at Sheng Zhi Wan’s waist.

In the next instant, a chill brushed Qi Shu Xian’s neck. Then pain came, a beat late.

Qi Shu Xian’s hand froze on the belt. A drop of blood welled from the cut on Qi Shu Xian’s neck.

Sheng Zhi Wan’s voice was ice-cold as she said, “Whether I could bear it or not, you could go ahead and try!”

Qi Shu Xian stared at Sheng Zhi Wan. “You dared to murder your husband?”

Sheng Zhi Wan pressed her lips together and said nothing, but the dagger that did not retreat was answer enough.

Qi Shu Xian’s anger surged again. “Why did you always have to be so hung up on this? Meng Yang is just a farm girl. Even if she has a child, she will never climb over you. Why won’t you let it go?”

Sheng Zhi Wan’s eyes were cold. “Something that someone else already used, I found it dirty.”

Qi Shu Xian’s jaw tightened. “But I am your husband! Are you really going to live like a widow forever just because I touched Meng Yang?”

Qi Shu Xian’s voice rose. “Look at the men in the capital. Which one didn’t have three wives and four concubines? Have you forgotten all the good things between us? Why couldn’t you be like you were before?”

Qi Shu Xian’s tone shifted, heavy with pleading and pain. “I could ignore your past stubbornness. I will persuade Mother not to blame you. We could make up, couldn’t we?”

Qi Shu Xian leaned forward. “If you don’t like raising someone else’s child, then don’t. Let her raise the child herself. We could start over and have our own child again…”

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Why did I have to compare myself to anyone else? I only knew this: the man I wanted could have only me, for a lifetime.”

Sheng Zhi Wan’s gaze did not waver. “Those memories were beautiful, yes. But they were beautiful because I was good, not because you were. If my love had gone to someone else, that same memory would still have been beautiful, wouldn’t it?”

The dagger in Sheng Zhi Wan’s hand slid forward another half inch.

Qi Shu Xian’s body stiffened. Qi Shu Xian had no choice but to rise.

Sheng Zhi Wan finally had room to breathe. Sheng Zhi Wan yanked her clothes back into place, jumped off the bed without hesitation, and pulled open the door. Sheng Zhi Wan’s voice was flat. “Heir Apparent, please.”

Qi Shu Xian’s face darkened with rage. “Do you really have to grind our past feelings into dust before you stop?”

Qi Shu Xian stared hard at Sheng Zhi Wan. “No matter what, I will not agree to a divorce. Without my consent, are you going to live like a widow for the rest of your life?”

Qi Shu Xian’s voice grew urgent. “What happened with Meng Yang was an accident. I swear to heaven and earth, there is only you in my heart. Even if the same thing happened again, I would rather die than betray you. Even then, you still wanted to keep being stubborn?”

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “My words were never taken back.”

“Fine. Fine!” Qi Shu Xian snapped.

Qi Shu Xian flung his sleeve and strode out.

As he left, Qi Shu Xian threw one last line over his shoulder. “Sheng Zhi Wan, you’d better not come begging me to come over!”

The moment Qi Shu Xian was gone, An Zhi and Ting Lan rushed in from outside.

An Zhi cried, “Princess! Princess, are you alright?”

Ting Lan ran to Sheng Zhi Wan as well. “Princess, are you hurt?”

Seeing the bloodied dagger in Sheng Zhi Wan’s hand, An Zhi’s face went pale.

Ting Lan hurried to check Sheng Zhi Wan’s body. Thankfully, after using Golden Wound Skin-He A Ling Dew, the injuries on Sheng Zhi Wan’s back had already healed more than halfway. Otherwise, Sheng Zhi Wan would not have been able to drink tonight.

“It was nothing,” Sheng Zhi Wan said.

Sheng Zhi Wan seemed to go limp as she tossed the dagger to the floor.

When Sheng Zhi Wan finally caught her breath, Sheng Zhi Wan suddenly asked, “I haven’t seen Huan Zhu in a long time. How was Huan Zhu doing now?”

At that, An Zhi immediately explained Huan Zhu’s situation.

After Ting Lan learned that Huan Zhu had feelings for the Heir Apparent, Ting Lan no longer arranged for anyone to secretly take care of Huan Zhu. So in these past days, Huan Zhu truly worked as a maid who scrubbed chamber pots.

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Tomorrow morning, have Huan Zhu wash up properly and come see me.”

“Yes,” An Zhi answered, then went out to pass on the message.

Sheng Zhi Wan had Ting Lan grind ink. Before long, Sheng Zhi Wan wrote out a story about a young master and a maid.

Ting Lan could read. Sheng Zhi Wan handed the finished booklet to Ting Lan and said, “Read it first. When Huan Zhu comes tomorrow, tell me the story exactly as it is written.”

“Yes,” Ting Lan said.

Ting Lan flipped through a few pages, and her entire face quickly turned red. Ting Lan’s hands tightened around the booklet, then loosened again, like she did not know whether to drop it or hold it.

Ting Lan stammered, “Th-this, Princess… how could you write this kind of story?”

And she still had to read it out loud. If word got out, what would people outside say about the Princess?

“It’s fine,” Sheng Zhi Wan said. “If I tell you to read it, then read it.”

So when Huan Zhu got the news the next day, Huan Zhu cleaned herself up with excitement and came to see Sheng Zhi Wan.

Huan Zhu saw Sheng Zhi Wan reclining lazily on the couch. Sheng Zhi Wan’s black hair spread out like raven feathers, like fine silk that caught the light.

Ting Lan stood at Sheng Zhi Wan’s side and read the booklet. The story had reached the part where the manor’s most beautiful maid, Xing Tao, happened to run into the Heir Apparent.

Huan Zhu dropped to her knees. “Princess, this servant knew she was wrong!”

Sheng Zhi Wan acted as if she had not heard.

Huan Zhu did not get up either. After these weeks of punishment, Huan Zhu finally understood her place. A maid was a maid. Even if she had come from the Imperial Palace, even if she had followed the Princess since childhood, it changed nothing.

If a master was angered, one order was enough to crush her, and she would never rise again.

Huan Zhu knelt quietly on the floor.

The room was silent. Only Ting Lan’s voice reading the story could be heard, and without realizing it, Huan Zhu listened along as well…